Consultants and junior doctors will strike together for the first time in an alarming escalation of their pay row.
Health leaders last night described the co-ordinated action as both a ‘nightmare scenario’ and a ‘step too far’. A Tory MP warned it could cost lives.
The joint walkouts will stretch over four days this month and next, the British Medical Association confirmed.
Consultants had already announced plans to picket for 48 hours from September 19 and will be joined by their junior colleagues on September 20. Junior doctors continue their strike on September 21 and 22 before combining again with consultants on October 2, 3 and 4.
Staff will work on a ‘Christmas day’ basis for both spells of industrial action, meaning that emergency care will continue to be given. Junior doctors yesterday voted in favour of continuing their strikes, with the mandate renewed for another six months.
Consultants and junior doctors will strike together for the first time in an alarming escalation of their pay row. Health leaders last night described the co-ordinated action as both a ‘nightmare scenario’ and a ‘step too far’. Pictured: Junior doctor members of British Medical Association join the picket line at the University College Hospital in London last month
The joint walkouts will stretch over four days this month and next, the British Medical Association confirmed. Pictured: Consultants attend their picket line at King’s College Hospital on August 24 in London
The BMA said that consultants and junior doctors stood ‘shoulder to shoulder in solidarity’ as they pursued inflation-busting pay rises.
The Government said in July junior doctors would get increases of 6 per cent, along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase, and hospital consultants would also receive 6 per cent.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the escalation of the industrial action was extremely disappointing and would further add to waiting lists.
He added: ‘My door is always open to discuss how we can work together with NHS staff to improve their working lives, but this pay award is final so I urge the BMA to call an end to this callous and calculated disruption.’
Matthew Taylor of the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, said: ‘This is the nightmare scenario that NHS leaders have long feared, with junior doctors and consultants set to strike at the same time in September.
‘This is a step too far and will cause unnecessary delays and distress to patients. Further industrial action is the last thing the NHS needs as we head into winter, so while we expected an extension to the BMA’s mandate, it will pile more pressure on local services and harm efforts to reduce waiting lists.
‘We warned the Government that this cannot become business as usual, but that’s where we are. And the consequences continue to be felt. Even with mitigations in place it is inevitable that patient safety is at risk.’
Conservative MP Paul Bristow, who sits on the Commons health committee, said: ‘There is no doubt that this co-ordinated action will impact patient outcomes and may even cost lives.’
Junior doctors have staged 19 days of strike action since March and consultants have staged four days. Pictured: Consultants attend their picket line at King’s College Hospital last month
Junior doctors have staged 19 days of strike action since March and consultants have staged four days. Earlier this week it was revealed that the latest consultants’ strike – from August 24 to 26 – affected 47,000 appointments.
Industrial action in the NHS started last December, with the number of appointments and operations cancelled now exceeding 900,000.
Waiting lists stand at a record 7.6million and the BMA has admitted using these patients as ‘leverage’ in its bid to secure a deal. It said the latest ballot had a turnout of 71 per cent, with 98 per cent backing further strikes in pursuit of a 35 per cent pay rise.
Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairmen of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said: ‘Refusing to negotiate with us and with our consultant colleagues is not the way ahead. Rishi Sunak now has nowhere to hide.
‘There can be no more delaying, no more wasting time with impositions of pay deals, no more declarations that strikes must end before even stepping in the room with us. If he does not come to the table with a credible offer on pay, he will face another six months of strike action.
‘And another six months after, and after that, if he continues to ignore us.’
Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA’s consultants committee, added: ‘It is becoming ever clearer that this Government does not value us or our work and nor does it really value patient care.’
Consultants claim their pay has been cut by 35 per cent in real terms since 2008 and want this gap eventually made up as well as seeking reform of independent pay review bodies.